Can You Hear Me Now
by WGDWriter
Summary: Rodreich is a deaf musician and his closest supporter is Elizabeta. Gilbert is a loud mouth flutist who likes to play air guitar and his favorite activity is to annoy his best friend Elizabeta. When Elizabeth introduces the two, Gilbert can't help but be captured by the man and has made it his goal to be heard by the other.


A/N: Hey all! It's been a while. My muse has been very finicky with my fics these past couple of months. As many of you know, it really hates Forget Me Not and I'm tired of being stuck on that story. Don't worry though! I still plan on continuing with it, but unfortunately it's going to be on an indefinite hiatus. I need a break from it and I'll force myself to work on it behind the scenes of other stories. I'll continue it once I get all of it's chapters plotted out. I'm probably going to be doing this with the majority of my stories that are going to be multi chapters. A popular writer that I'm following on here is doing the same thing and I'm going to be borrowing the idea and see how it works out. Ever since I started writing, I've only ever started without a plan. It worked in the past, but that was when I didn't post my stuff online for others to read. Now I need to be more meticulous since I actually have other people reading my work. There will be longer breaks between stories (except for the occasional one-shot probably) but it should help me give more updates on the stories that I do post.

Other than that, I hope you enjoy this one-shot. It was inspired by the old Deaf/Mute AU prompt from my old GerIta writing group. I went through a few plot ideas for this and really liked the idea of someone playing a romantic song for a confession. I'm just hoping that I wrote everyone in character. It has been a while since I read a decent PruAus fic and I also threw in a few character sthat I'm not used to writing.

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Gilbert stalked back and forth on the stage, unable to keep still. A few eyes watched him, people who he called in for a favor. It was already bad enough he needed to ask Elizabeta for help but for his plan to work, he needed other people. The German's gaze moved from the floor up to the only other two people on stage with him.

The first was Emil. His tousled hair almost looked silver with the current lighting and his eyes flashed between blue and purple when his gaze jumped from the pacing man back down to his violin case. He sat on the floor, busying himself with his bow but still took occasional glances at Gilbert when he thought the other wasn't looking. Ivan, the other, laughed at this causing Gilbert's gaze to fall on him. The German simply frowned, giving an annoyed huff as the beige-blond fixed his pink scarf more securely around himself and shifted in his seat on a piano bench. Out of all the people he asked for help, Gilbert regretted asking him. The Russian was amused by the whole situation, annoying Gilbert to no end.

Offstage was one other person, Feliciano, a trusted friend who worked with the drama club enough to handle the curtains for the stage. He had closed the curtains not that long ago and was currently on watch for Roderich. The Italian was supposed to come back if he saw the Austrian approaching. Gilbert moved his gaze back to the ground, continuing his pacing with more vigor.

"He may be deaf, but I'm certain he'll hear you stomping back there." Elizabeta's voice came from the other side of the curtain. She was smiling. Gilbert could tell just from the tone of her voice.

"Shut up! This was your idea, not mine." Gilbert stopped pacing, choosing to sit down where he left his flute case. He had already assembled the instrument but, due to his nerves, he started taking it apart so he could put it back together again.

"We're going to have to tune it again if you keep doing that." Ivan commented, causing Elizabeta to laugh while the German gave him a glare. He was stating the truth, but he didn't care. He needed to do something when trying to settle his nerves.

"You're the one who asked me the best way to do this." Elizabeta finally managed to say, taking a chance to peek behind the curtain to see the state of her friend, "I made a suggestion and you're the one going all out. I'm surprised really. Never thought you had it in you to go this far."

Gilbert was moving to get up and comment when Feliciano rushed in from the left side of the stage, "He's coming!"

Elizabeta was quick to move away from the curtain, leaving Gilbert alone with Ivan and Emil while Feliciano moved to the controls for the curtain. He bit his lip from nerves. The German was having second thoughts. This was one of the most elaborate things he's ever done and was on the borderline of embarrassing. Well, embarrassing to someone who openly played an air guitar with a broom as a prop with no shame.

Emil surprised Gilbert with a pat on the shoulder as he passed by, helping Ivan move the piano to position on the stage. He smiled with appreciation as he heard Elizabeta purposely greet Roderich louder than normal. As the other two got everything set up last minute, Gilbert took a moment to peek from behind the curtain.

Roderich was in the middle of the auditorium, his violin case on the floor beside him while his hands were moving to form various phrases that he couldn't understand. Gilbert frowned and squinted to see if he could pick up on what little he learned of sign language. Unfortunately, he couldn't quite see clearly from the stage. The German sighed, wishing he put a little more effort into learning the language.

Gilbert remembered when he first met Roderich. He didn't know what to make of the quiet man who only stared at him whenever he greeted him. At first, the German just thought that he was prissy rich kid who held himself higher than everyone around him. But when he griped about him to Elizabeta, she told him about his hearing loss. Roderich had gotten sick almost 5 years ago and because of that, he lost his ability to hear. The Austrian did have hearing aids but, for reasons Elizabeta never elaborated on, they were mostly used so he could hear his music better.

After that, Elizabeta personally went and introduced the two. The three of them would mostly meet up after school in the band room. Roderich was always playing the violin, though there were times he would dabble with the piano, and Gilbert couldn't help but appreciate the music the Austrian played. The two of them even did a duet together, Gilbert playing his flute and Roderich on his violin. Somewhere along the way, the German found himself in a pickle. More often than he'd like to admit, Gilbert found himself trying to catch the other's eye. It didn't even matter if what he did made him a nuisance or not; he just wanted those violet eyes on him.

"You always act more outrageous around Roderich than normal." Elizabeta had commented at one point after Gilbert had done something rather stupid, "It's almost like you're trying to get his attention."

Gilbert had denied of course but when his brother started pointing it out, he started to become self-conscious. It wasn't until two months ago he had actually realized his true feelings for the deaf man. The first thing he did was get Elizabeta to teach him how to sign. She had seemed suspicious at first before suddenly agreeing. He learned that she had caught on when she started teaching him how to say I love you and various romantic gestures after a couple of lessons. Gilbert almost immediately dropped the lessons right then but the girl egged him on. Unfortunately, the German got impatient and asked for a faster way to confess. That was when Elizabeta suggested playing Roderich a romantic song.

Gilbert decided right away that he was going to play it himself. He spent days looking up songs, trying to find the perfect one. After nearly a week of searching, he found one that sent out the right message. He just hoped it would impress Roderich. Elizabeta was thrown into the plan almost immediately. It was going to be easier for her to sign out the lyrics rather than having someone create a presentation to show them off. But while practicing, there was something missing.

Gilbert realized that the song he chose needed an accompanist in which he spent three days searching for someone to duet with. He was surprised to learn that Ivan was rather good at playing the piano, stumbling in on the man when meeting up with Roderich after school. The German was very hesitant in involving the Russian, but asked when he couldn't find anyone else. Gilbert immediately liked the way the song sounded after that. Emil was actually a last minute add-on with him showing up out of the blue and joining in an impromptu moment on his violin. Liking the sound of the additional instrument, Gilbert had Emil join in on future practice sessions.

Gilbert's mind was pulled back in the present from a cough from Feliciano and he shook his head to make him focus. The action caused the curtain to ripple and Roderich craned his head to look past Elizabeta. The German quickly jumped back, his face turning red since it looked like he was staring.

"Hm? Oh, no! Don't be ridiculous." Elizabeta said loudly with and equally loud laugh, "We're the only ones here!"

"Feli, better get ready. He's onto us." Gilbert said, moving to pick up his flute from his case.

Ivan was in the middle of setting up some mics when the German ushered him to the piano. Emil finished it up with the help of Feliciano who ran onto the stage after noticing they weren't fully ready. The moment the Italian turned on the mics was when Ivan and Emil started playing the song 'Rather Be' by Clean Bandit. Feliciano drew the curtain's open, and once the auditorium was revealed, Gilbert was able to see Roderich sitting front row while Elizabeta stood in front of the stage. The Austrian's gaze jumped between his two friends, surprise and confusion flashing behind his glasses.

Gilbert started playing when the lyrics were supposed to start. His focus stayed on the sitting musician as the confusion melted into pure surprise. Elizabeta signed the lyrics in time with the music, though Roderich didn't spare her a glance. The two's attention was only on each other and Gilbert let the music be his voice, wanting the deaf man to hear him for once. He didn't let the music falter, even when he saw the brunet stand up half way through the performance. By the time the performance ended, Roderich was already edging towards the stairs leading up to the stage and nearly darted up them when the last note was played.

"W-Whoa, Rod!" Gilbert barely had time to put his instrument down before the Austrian reached him, signing at lightning speed, "Slow down! I don't think Liz can translate that fast."

Elizabeta simply laughed, leaning forward and resting her arms on the stage. "I told you he'd like it."

"Well, what's he saying?" The German asked, glancing at her. Roderich did the same and immediately started signing at her at the same speed.

"He said he didn't know you could be so sophisticated." She laughed. Roderich glanced at Gilbert and upon seeing his annoyed expression, he started signing again and gave her a frown of his own. "Hey! I only translated what you said." Elizabeta spoke while she signed, a teasing smile on her face. "Don't worry, I'm getting to the rest."

She looked at Gilbert, her teasing smile turning into a smirk. "Take it as a compliment, okay? He's surprised considering you've been acting more like a hooligan than normal." The German gave her a sarcastic laugh and Roderich started signing again. Elizabeta waved a hand at him, rolling her eyes, "He wanted to know if you're serious. He's seen the lyrics before and wants to make sure you know the significance of those words you played for him."

"Yes?" Gilbert raised an eyebrow and his eyes met the brunet's questioning gaze. For some reason, it looked like the other didn't quite believe him. "Yes, I'm serious."

He didn't even turn for a translation. Roderich wrapped his arms around the German and leaned up to peck his lips. Gilbert's face flushed pink in surprise and only grew darker at the cheering and applause from the other three people on stage. The brunet's eyes widened for a moment, almost as if he was surprised with his own actions as well, but gave the German a satisfied smile with his own cheeks brightening. He signed something and the platinum blonde looked over to Elizabeta.

"He said that he's happy that you played for him, but you're going to have to learn sign language. That is, unless you want to memorize more songs. He's very willing to help me teach you."

Gilbert looked back at Roderich, putting on a goofy half smile for him, "Challenge accepted, little master."


End file.
